The agriculture of Great Britain is character ized by an unusual system of land-ownership and tenure —a system which is generally recognized as attaining a maximum of production at a minimum cost, but which is severely criticised for its social influences. The characteristics are, briefly: centralization of ownership, capitalistic tenants who pay money rent on long-time ten ures, and a large laboring class who are on a 'very low economic and social plane. Each of these conditions contrasts strikingly with con ditions in the United States. The large estates, which had resulted from the long-continued proc ess of land inclosure in which the yeomanry were excluded., have remained intact through the operation of the law of primogeniture. In 1876 two-thirds of the entire landed property of England and Wales was owned by about 10, 000 individuals — hence the expression 'upper tens.' In Scotland, in 1871, 42.1 per cent. of the total area was owned by only 68 persons. The status with regard to ownership in Great Britain has not materially changed in subsequent years.
The 'gentleman' who enjoys the honor and the profits of ownership may spend a 'season' on his estates; but their cultivation is in the hands of his tenants, who are generally under the super vision of his bailiff. Renting, therefore, is wellnigh universal, as will be seen from the following table, giving the actual acreage under crops and grass occupied by tenants and owners (1898) : The following table shows the number of farms of various sizes in 1895, and the percentage of farm acreage that each class constitutes: No marked tendencies in the size of holdings have developed since 1895, but there was a slight in crease in the number of farms between 500 and 300 acres in area, and a slight decrease in the number of farms in the smaller and the larger sized classes.
The average size of farms is less than in the United States, but the intensiveness of cultiva tion necessitates a much greater outlay of capital and labor. The important feature is that the size of the farm is kept sufficiently large to make possible the application of capital, machinery, etc., at an economic advantage, and thus to in sure a profit and the perpetuation of the indus try. The renting system contrasts again with that of the United States in that it is generally for a long term of years, the tenancy even ofttimea descending in the same family for generations.
The tenant is in this wise guaranteed the bene fits of his own enterprise, and induced to improve the land rather than exhaust it, as is so 'common a practice in the United States. Moreover, the Agricultural Holdings Acts of 1875, 1882, and 1900 provide a legal method for the tenant at the end of his tenancy to secure compensation for such value as still remains in improvements which he has placed upon the land. However, the competition of foreign products and reduction of prices, together with heavy taxes, unjust rail way freight charges, etc., have fallen heavily upon the tenant, and the rents are tardily ad justed to meet changed conditions. As a result, the tenant class of England, as a class, are not very optimistic.
The tenant usually employs a number of hands; these receive, in addition to the use of a cottage, but a scanty wage, and seldom suc ceed in bettering their economic or social condi tion. The results of investigations made in the last years of the nineteenth century indicated that the average wage received for farm labor was about 13s. per week. It has been maintained that a system of peasant cultivation and proprie torship would greatly strengthen the manhood, independence, and national patriotism of the farm laborer, and reestablish the yeoman class; indeed, a propaganda exists with this end in view. Laws passed in 1882, 1887, 1890, 1892, and 1894 provide that under certain conditions a demand in any locality for small holdings, either for rent or ownership, can be legally secured by compulsion if necessary. At the same time the' sentiment against further inclosure has become so strong that the commoners are guaranteed their rights to the use of such forests and com mons as yet remain uninclosed. The movement for the subdivision of the land has been partially successful, as is indicated by the increase in the number of allotments (for rent), one acre and less in size, from 357,795 in 1888 to 579,133 in 1895. The prospects of the agricultural laborer are, therefore, becoming somewhat better.